Sparks, Flames, Embers

Chapter 10: Family

"So where are you taking me, Marge?"

"It's a surprise, sweetheart. You don't really expect me to just tell you, do you?" Peggy answered cheekily, as she changed lanes to exit the freeway.

"Carter."

Peggy wanted to point out that saying her name in that rebuking tone had gotten him nowhere when he lost yet another bet to her and she got to drive his car to their mystery destination, but she decided to cut him a little slack.

"You know how you have been wanting to know how I became so good of a shot?"

"Yeah," he said slowly and warily.

"Well," she continued as she made another turn, taking them down a two lane winding road. "I am taking you to the secret to my success."

Jack looked at her quizzically for a few moments and then… (wait for it)… he spotted the sign: Phillips' Shooting Range 2.4 miles.

"To be honest, I always thought it was because of Rogers."

"Hmm…" she mused. "No, I knew how to shoot before I met him. My father and brother taught me the basics growing up, and I actually taught Steve, taking him out to a firing range a few times, before he joined up. But I didn't become proficient at it until afterwards."

She didn't say anything more. She couldn't. She was about to reveal a big part of herself today, and she was not sure she could do much more than that.

Jack seemed to pick up on that and was quiet for the rest of the ride, and when they got to the firing range, he only arched an eyebrow at her. Somehow, she knew that he was asking why this particular shooting range when there were a few that were much closer to the university. She knew she would have if the roles were reversed.

Mustering up all the courage that she had in her, she put the car in park, took a deep breath, and explained, "Steve Rogers is always going to be a big part of my life. I am never going to forget him. A large part of why I want to be an F.B.I. agent is because of him, but even more than that, his family is still going to be a major part of my life."

Turning to fully face him and look him in the eye, she concluded, "And if we are going to do this, then from the start you need to know that."

Before Jack could reply to this, there was great big booming voice yelling at her from across the parking lot, "Hey Peggy!"

"His timing sucks as always," she muttered, half in disgruntlement to herself and half in apology to Jack.

"And he is?" Jack queried.

But again before she could explain further, the car was surrounded by half a dozen well-muscled men, sporting high-top haircuts, and carrying various types of guns. Their expressions ranged from serious to impatient to the goofiest of grins.

Turning back to Jack, she said, "Thompson, I would like you to meet the Howling Commandos."

~A~

A few hours later...

"Thompson, come with me," said that great big booming voice of Sergeant Dugan, just as he clapped his big meaty paw on Jack's shoulder.

At his hesitation, Dugan grabbed one of the beers from his hand, passing it off to one of the other Commandos – he thinks it was the guy that went by 'Pinky', and said, "The lady has gone to the powder room. They'll get it to her. Join me out on the patio while I have a smoke."

Seeing as he did not have much choice, he took a swig of his own beer and followed the man out. If that wasn't nerve-wracking enough, it was to the sound of jeering calls of "It was nice knowing you, Blondie!" and "Don't go easy on him, Sarge!"

Once outside, he didn't have long to wait for the opening line of 'The Talk'.

After Dugan lit up his cigar and took a few puffs, he turned to Jack, stating, "So you seemed to have enjoyed yourself today. Not too awkward, I hope."

It had of course been awkward, and it bit overwhelming at times. He was meeting Peggy's chosen family, the family of her dead first love (he didn't count that Fred guy). They were also combat veterans. They had seen death, fought against it, and partnered with it, while he had lived his safe cozy life in the States because of them. Meeting them was daunting as all get out.

But they had been for the most part, pretty welcoming. He couldn't keep track of all their names as they switched back and forth between their given names and their call signs like 'Pinky' or 'Happy', which he thought that they did half the time to purposefully throw him off his game. The youngest known as 'Junior' warmed up to him the most, especially after he tried to help him out with his earlier claim that he saw a 'yeti not an abominable snowman'.

"Yeah, it was fun," he finally confirmed.

"My boys didn't give you too hard of a time?"

Jack, again, took his time answering, for somehow he knew that those piercing blue eyes would be able to detect anything less than the truth.

No one had specifically gotten into his face about his intentions towards Peggy. No one except Jim Morita, that is.

Upon first glance, Jack knew Jim Morita to be a tough son of a gun. He was still fighting among the ranks, even while being in his late-thirties. Later, Jack was to found out that the man was their communications expert, not their explosive expert, but from what he had gathered from his little side-chat with the man at the shooting range, he knew enough.

"If you hurt Roger's girl, I will attach your nuts to blasting caps."

And he had reinforced this message later, when they arrived at the cantina for happy hour, he asked Jones (the unit's multi-lingual) what the word was for 'nuts' in all the languages he knows.

Gabe Jones must have been in on the joke/threat because he had looked at Jack with an evil grin as he recited them all: 'huevos, les coucougnettes, cogliani, eier, gāo wán…'

Shifting uncomfortably at the remembrance of Morita's ...promise, he answered honestly, "Not too bad. But they did get their point across."

Dugan nodded in satisfaction, declaring, "Good then I won't have to waste my breath belaying – no that's not right… belabor, that's the word – belaboring the point."

He gave a few more puffs on his cigar before continuing.

"I have just been curious, ever since Peggy told us about the pair of you lovebirds and asked us to meet you, how you two worked out that internship thing that you been competin' for."

When Jack didn't say anything, Dugan fixed a big beady blue eye on him and pressed, "So have you?"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and hedged, "Er… not in so many words…"

It wasn't the most confident or convincing of statements, but Dugan must have seen something in his expression, because the man gave him a knowing nod and then said, "Now I ain't normally a man to talk out of turn, but I think it might help you to know that when I asked Peggy this same question, she said somethin' mighty interesting."

When he didn't say anything further, Jack prompted, "She did?"

Puff, puff went the cigar, and then, "She said that if you got it, she would be okay with that, because she made damn sure that you worked for it, no matter what your connections were and how good you kissed ass. And if she got it, she knows that you would be okay with it too. That you wouldn't chalk it up to some bullshit notion that it was only because of affirmative action. That right, Thompson?"

"Yeah, yeah, it is," he admitted, and he wasn't just saying that because the big man could pummel his ass with one hand tied behind his back. He really truly meant it.

But Dugan's question got his mind to thinking, and he really didn't like the conclusion it came to.

~A~

"So did I pass muster?" Jack asked as soon as they were alone in his room and had gotten the courage to ask.

Peggy paused in the act of kicking off her boots to question curiously,"Did you what?"

"Pass muster," he reiterated. "Did I get their approval? Or at least, did I get a period of grace before I have to worry about them taking me out into the middle of nowhere and warning me off of you?"

"Oh," she breathed as she caught on, and then her puzzled frown turned to a smile of amusement. "No, they liked you. And they wouldn't do anything like that…well, not unless they thought you were going to break my heart that is."

As this seemed to be the day for honesty, he muttered, "No, I think you are at more of a risk of breaking mine."

At this, Peggy moved to straddle him on the bed, her knees on either side of his thighs, one hand on his shoulder for balance, the other she used to brush his hair out of his eyes, so that she could stare into them as she coyly asked, "Is that right?

He slid his hand up her back, admitting, "Yes that's right. You're a heartbreaker." And because he could not help himself, he added sing-song-like, "…dream maker, love-ta– "

"Oh please," Peggy cut him off with an eye roll, even as she pushed him further back on the bed and teasingly began to nibble on his lips.

Jack didn't protest, but let her have her way with him. Later, however, he could have pointed out that while she made love to him sweetly and teasingly, his own lovemaking had been just short of desperate.

For he knew, that while Peggy might be okay with him getting the internship position, she would never be okay with her not getting it.

And that would be the death knell for them.